Preliminary-Blueprint-Eng

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significant and sustained
investments in educatiOn
The support and resources that a system provides to schools play
a critical role in how schools perform as they enable teachers and
principals to focus on their core business of delivering effective
teaching and learning. A country’s investment in its education system
is therefore an important measure of its commitment.
The Malaysian Government has sustained high levels of investment in
education over the 55 years since independence. As early as 1980, the
Malaysian federal government’s spending on primary and secondary
education, as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was
the highest in East Asia. In 2011, the amount spent, at 3.8% of GDP
or 16% of total government spending, was not only higher than the
OECD average of 3.4% of GDP and 8.7% of total public spending
respectively, but also at par with or more than top-performing systems
like Singapore, Japan, and South Korea (Exhibit 1). In 2012, with an
education budget of RM37 billion, the Government has continued
to devote the largest proportion of its budget, 16% to the Ministry.
This demonstrates the very real commitment the Government has to
education as a national priority.
EXHIBIT 1
Basic education expenditure
Percent (2008)
1 as a percentage of total government expenditure for Malaysia
and peers2 18
16
Malaysia3 Thailand3 14
Mexico
12
Chile
12
Hong
Kong 3
SOURCE: Ministry of Education Malaysia; OECD – Education at a Glance 2011; Singstat; Ministry of Finance Thailand; Ministry
of Finance Indonesia; Education Bureau of Hong Kong.
11
Korea
11
9
Indonesia3 Singapore3 7
Japan
OECD
average
8.7%
1 Includes operating expenditure and capital/development expenditure for basic education (primary and secondary)
2 Peers based on the following categorisation: Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, S. Korea, Japan); SEA neighbours (Indonesia,
Thailand Singapore), and comparable GDP per capita (Mexico and Chile)
3 Data for 2010
Note: Data from 2008 or 2010 depending on latest available data
dramatic prOgress On
imprOving access tO
educatiOn
The education system has made tremendous progress since 1957. At
the time of Independence, over half the population had no formal
schooling, while only 6% of Malaysian children had been educated to
secondary level, and a paltry 1% to the post-secondary level. Five and
a half decades later, access to education has been transformed beyond
recognition.
In 2011, Malaysia had achieved near universal enrolment at the
primary level at 94%, and the percentage of students who dropped out
of primary school had been significantly reduced (from 3% in 1989 to
just 0.2% in 2011). Enrolment rates at the lower secondary level (Form
1 to 3) had risen to 87%. The greatest improvement was undoubtedly at
upper secondary level (Form 4 to 5), where enrolment rates had almost
doubled, from 45% in the 1980s, to 78% in 2011. These enrolment rates
are even higher once enrolment in private schools is factored in: 96%
at primary, 91% at lower secondary, and 82% at upper secondary level.
These rates are higher than most developing countries, although they
are still lower than that of high-performing education systems like
Singapore and South Korea. In parallel, there has been rapid expansion
in preschool education. Around 77% of students are now enrolled in
some form of preschool education (either public or private), and the
target is for universal enrolment through the Education National Key
Results Area (NKRA) in the GTP.
The significant improvement in access to education is echoed by a
similar improvement in attainment. Youth literacy has risen from 88%
in 1980 to near-universal literacy of 99% today, while adult literacy has
increased even more dramatically, from less than 70% to over 92% in
the same time frame. Further, the proportion of the adult population
(aged 15+) with no schooling has declined, from 60% in 1950 to less
than 10% in 2010, while the proportion (aged 15+) that has completed
secondary education has risen from around 7% in 1950 to almost 75%
over the same time period (Exhibit 2). These are achievements of
which Malaysia can be proud.
EXHIBIT 2
Highest educational attainment of population aged 15 and above (1950-2010)
Percent of population
1
6
33
60
1950
1
7
35
56
1955
2
10
38
50
1960
2
13
41
44
1965
2
19
43
37
1970
SOURCE: Barro and Lee, 2010 (Eurostat, UN)
2
24
41
32
1975
Tertiary
3
31
38
28
1980
6 8 9 10 13 15
39 39
33
21
1985
Secondary
39
15
1990
51
26
13
1995
Primary
56
22
12
2000
No Schooling
59
18
10
2005
61
15
9
2010